Following the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP controversy, the era of Max Verstappen dawned on the world of Formula 1. In 2022, the Dutchman clinched his second world drivers’ championship with a whopping 146 point margin over title rival Charles Leclerc!
In 2023, his dominance has seemingly increased tenfold. Having won 12 out of 14 races so far, the Dutchman made Formula 1 history by winning the 10th consecutive race at Italy this Sunday: a new record!
Max Verstappen breaks ‘Monza curse’ winning Italian GP
The “Monza curse” is a fan-made superstition that a driver who wins at Monza, one of the most historic tracks on the circuit, is ‘cursed’ to DNF or DNS the race in the following season.
The curse dates back to Charles Leclerc’s Monza win in 2019, following which he crashed out in 2020. In 2020, Pierre Gasly won a at Monza, but crashed out in 2021! Daniel Ricciardo led a historic Mclaren 1-2 at Monza in 2021, only to DNF in 2022.
Since Max won in 2022, the speculation around social media was that Max would also DNF or fall out of the points this season, with the Monza curse hard on his heels. However, it seems as if the reigning world champion out paced the curse, with a historic, record-breaking win this Sunday at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix!
What is even more interesting, however, is that his win at Italy on Sunday meant that he is the first driver in Formula 1 history to win the race at all original F1 tracks in a single season!
Max Verstappen is the only F1 driver in history to win at all four original tracks in one season
Only four Formula 1 tracks have formed part of the calendar since 1950: Silverstone (Britain), Monza (Italy), Monaco and Spa (Belgium).
However, in all its history, no driver has been able to claim that they have won at all of these in a single season, until now!
Thus, not only did he make history by setting a new Formula 1 record for most consecutive wins in a single season at 10 wins in a row, he also became the first driver in Formula 1 history to win at all four original tracks.
What other records do you think Max can break this season? Comment what you think down below!
